PM must not instruct CoP

United National Congress Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, greets a supporter dressed up with a yellow wig at the party’s mobilisation meeting on Friday night at Parvati Girls High School in Debe.
United National Congress Political Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, greets a supporter dressed up with a yellow wig at the party’s mobilisation meeting on Friday night at Parvati Girls High School in Debe.

UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has expressed concern that a “dangerous trend” of political interference was seemingly taking place in the Police Service with the ruling PNM administration instructing senior police officers about the rule of law. Persad-Bissessar was commenting on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s address to the nation in which Rowley instructed acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams to seek out the criminal elements from last Thursday’s violent protests which brought the capital city to a halt.

“The Prime Minister talking about instructing the Commissioner of Police to find the bandits. I never know a Prime Minister could instruct the Commissioner of Police and that is a dangerous trend we are seeing in this country where the politicians are instructing the police,” she said.

Addressing a cottage meeting at Parvati Girls Hindu College, Debe, on Friday night, she told hundreds of supporters that she did not want the low voter turnout which had characterised another party’s internal election on November 19. She said members, not only had to vote overwhelmingly for her slate of candidates but also send “shivers” up the spine of the ruling PNM administration as the Opposition UNC signalled its readiness to contest the next general election.

“We must get a big enough voter turnout, not 500 hundred and something that I saw another party had recently. We have to bring out by the thousands so that we showing the country and we showing Rowley and the PNM that our party is united and our party is strong and we are ready, once more, to take back government from the PNM.” The Congress of the People held its internal election on November 19 and Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan won the political leader position with just 589 members out of the party’s reported 40,000 strong membership voting in the election.

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"PM must not instruct CoP"

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